Historic fireman’s Museum undergoing renovations

Tuesday

Aug 6, 2013 at 12:01 AMAug 6, 2013 at 9:11 PM

Improvements to be made to Kinston’s oldest brick-built structure

One of Kinston’s most historical buildings is going through some changes.

The Caswell No. 1 Fire Station Museum — once Kinston’s lone fire station and the oldest brick-built structure in the city — will undergo a few exterior and interior alterations in order to attract both citizens and tourists.

The Caswell No. 1 Fire Station was built in 1895 after fires destroyed most of downtown Kinston. For decades, firefighters were on call in the building and the museum was created in 1993 to preserve the significance.

“A lot of people connected with Pride were very instrumental in saving the building,” Pride of Kinston Director Adrian King said. “Lenoir County was going to demolish it at one point, but people like Shirley Herring stepped forward to preserve the historical building. We’ve been a quiet partner, looking over the building.

“The museum attracts a lot of people who come to visit and has great historical value.”

Guy Basden — curator of the museum and a former Kinston Fire Department officer — said the fire station was very instrumental in the makeup of the city. In the late 1800s, most buildings were made from wood and timber.

“When the building was introduced, things changed as far as Kinston is concerned,” Basden said. “There was a standard of codes after the fire. People realized that if there was going to be permanency downtown, they would have to build different materials. Steel was also introduced, along with concrete and other forms of masonry.”

Basden said some of the changes to the museum have already taken effect and there are more plans for the future.

“We restored the overhead sign and there’s a temporary banner on the right side of the building, which is a photo of company firefighters after responding to a fire,” Basden. “We’ve also got historic fire hydrants on the side of the building. Of course, I’m always moving things around and have rearranged artifacts to make room for new material.

“We’ve received donations and Elk’s Foundation gave us $900 to work on the outside of the building. We’ll use that money to restore signs, paint, put gravel down and hang a permanent Maltese cross banner overhead.”

John Wood — Restoration Preservation Specialist of the N.C. State of Preservation Office — will give the fire station an inspection Thursday in order to check the structural integrity and spot any problems with the building.

“I was approached by Adrian, who keeps his pulse on the community,” Wood said. “I’ve worked with him on Harmony Hall, so Adrian asked if I would do a conditional assessment. We provide technical assistance to owners of historical properties, so we set up an appointment to do a building assistance assessment here.”

Wood, who had visited Caswell before, said he doesn’t believe there wouldn’t be any problems with the inspection.

“Historic buildings are usually built with a quality of materials and construction techniques that aren’t really seen in new construction,” Wood said. “They’re built better and last longer. The only issues for historical buildings are usually derived from deferred maintenance, but the upkeep of Caswell is pretty good from what I had seen in past visits.”

Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.